Putin’s Propaganda

The regime of Vladimir Putin murders opponents, locks up artists and alters the boundaries of Europe by force on spurious claims that it is aiding threatened minorities. It has one thing going for it, however: the support of a prominent British politician who by appearing on a Russian TV station will help to whitewash the regime’s crimes.

Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister, cheerfully disclosed this week that he will present a politics chat show on RT, formerly Russia Today, the English-language arm of Russian state broadcasting. Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, said that Mr Salmond’s decision was unwise and that she would have advised against it. Mr Salmond’s service for the propaganda outlets of a hostile foreign autocracy does indeed evince a lack…